Amazing Race: Disaster in two parts

We all know Rule No. 1 for contestants on "The Amazing Race": Read the danged clue!

Less famous but nonetheless equal in importance are Rules 2 and 3: Avoid tight connections and keep an eye on your stuff. Failure to observe those latter rules created so much havoc in Sunday's episode that the story couldn't be contained in a single hour. Instead, we were left wondering which, if any, team would be sent home

The leg began in Istanbul, with the six remaining teams receiving instructions to proceed to Moscow. There were several options for getting to the Russian capital, all of which arrived very early in the morning. If the Racers were thinking ahead, they would have realized that the Race never starts Detours and Roadblocks in the dark, so some sort of stackup lay ahead.

Instead, Abbie & Ryan and Josh & Brent decided on a flight that would land in Moscow at 2 a.m. - as long as they made a one-hour connection in Frankfurt. Even novice travelers know you'll never make a connection with only an hour wiggle room, and the foursome did not. Instead, they were stuck waiting for a new flight that arrived at 3:30 p.m. - a 13.5-hour mistake.

It seemed that one of those teams was destined to lose the leg, and when they made a pact to run the leg together, it became apparent that team would be Josh & Brent, who would have no chance in the inevitable foot race to the Pit Stop mat.

But up stepped James & Abba to erase the certainty by violating Rule No. 3. They were cruising to a safe fourth place at the Roadblock when they learned that their cab driver had driven off with their backpacks - and James's passport. Race rules prohibit teams from checking in without their paperwork, although James& Abba tried anyway. Phil Keoghan sent them away to look for the passport - a seeming impossibility.

And that's where the episode ended: with three teams still on what had seemed like a relatively simple course. The three other teams - Trey & Lexi, Jaymes & James and Natalie & Nadiya - arrived safely in that order.

Could Abba & James possibly find the missing passport - and do it before the straggling foursome finished? It seems highly unlikely, but at least they have several hours to accomplish the task. The previews for next week didn't spill the answer -although it did show one of the teams that got stuck in Frankfurt still participating, so we know which pair will battle Abba & James for the bottom.

Hanging over all of this mess is the specter of a non-elimination: There are two left and only three teams to eliminate before the finale. It's entirely possible that if James & Abba can legally continue, all six teams will still be running next week. Stay tuned.

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